Flashback February 2007

Wolves by Emily Gravett. From my review: “Rabbit gets a book on wolves out of the library. He’s so captivated by the book and involved in the reading that he doesn’t notice it when the wolves leave the book. . . .  The book rabbit is reading is the book you are holding in your hands. Examine the endpages, look at the cover under the dustjacket: yep, you’re reading rabbit’s book. And if you’re reading rabbit’s book, and you know how that story ends . . . It’s like Stephen King or the X Files for kiddies.”

The Exiles At Home by Hilary McKay. From my review: “It’s Hilary McKay. Have you all not yet been converted to the cult of “anything she does is good”? No?. . . .  McKay quickly sorts out the four girls and introduces you to the way they view the world. That view is best summed up by young Phoebe, that there is “nothing worse than what happens to you by not doing it.” In a way, the girls remind me of Peter Pan. In that, the Conroys are seductive; you love them, laugh with them, turn the page, half in fear of what they think of next. But like Peter Pan, they are still very much children, with their own dedicated world view. It’s very matter of fact; honesty and blunt; sometimes callous; always entertaining. The older girls deliberately teach the next door baby some rather naughty behavior just so they can keep a baby-sitting job. I laughed so hard I cried; and luckily, the mother was rather understanding of it all. One example is teaching the poor baby the game of Omelette, which consists of crawling around a couch at top speed shouting “omelette” until one loses all sense. Ruth observes, “she was dizzy and the world whirled and the word took possession.””

The Braid by Helen Frost. From my review: “1850. Scotland. People are being forced off the land they have lived on for generations; the MacKinnons decide to move to Canada for a new start. Grandma Peggy doesn’t want to go. On the night the family is to leave, Sarah, 15, runs away; she wants to stay in Scotland with her grandmother. There is no time to go after her; so the rest of the family, including her sister, Jeannie, 14, make their way to Cape Breton, Canada.. The Braid tells the story of sisters Sarah and Jeannie and their now-separate lives. The Braid is also something physical; the girls had braided their hair together, and as they slept Sarah cut it, leaving half with her sister. . . .  Frost stays true to the time; neither Sarah nor Jeannie are literate; the family separation is brutally final, with no hope for direct communication. In a time of cell phones and text messaging, it is almost impossible to imagine a time where it would be months before Sarah learns of the deaths of some of her family. As time goes by, all the girls have is hope that the other is doing well, hope that somehow they will connect. Most brilliant of all is how Frost braids together the girls stories. For the narrative poems, the last word of each line of one poem becomes the first word of each line of the next poem. For the praise poems, the last line of one poem becomes the first line of the next. Independent, yet dependent; alone, yet connected.”

Hercules: The Twelve Labors. A Greek Myth by Paul Storrie, illustrated by Steve Kurth. From my review: “Hercules is one of those people who are “in” the common knowledge, but really, how much do you really know? Seriously, can you name even half of the twelve labors? Without peeking over at Wikipedia, of course. This Graphic Novel is a great introduction for younger readers. Storrie tells this part of the Hercules saga with lots of action and humor. During one labor, there is the boast that “my club will strike you down!” followed by a “perhaps not” when the club does not in fact slay the beast.”

Stormwitch by Susan Vaught. From my review: “Ruba has been raised by her maternal grandmother, Ba, in Haiti; but Ba has died so Ruba now moves to Pass Christian, Mississippi, to live with her paternal grandmother, Grandmother Jones. It’s August 1969, and Ba raised Ruba to be proud of her African heritage, to be strong, to be a fighter. Ruba has a hard time adjusting to the segregation and prejudice in Mississippi, and a harder time adjusting to life with her grandmother. She sees none of the pride found in Ba; and Grandmother Jones, a devout Christian, frowns on the spells, potions and magic taught to Ruba by Ba. Holy Hannah, it’s not just tradition — Ba and Ruba really are witches! Or war women or storm chanters or whatever you want to call them. Basically, the spells and chants and potions work; they are part of the wisdom and tradition of the Dahomey Amazon women. And they are real. Which means that this changes from a book about a teen adjusting to life in a racist world to a book about a teen who can kick some racist ass.”

Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies. From my review: “This isn’t a Hallmark Made for TV version of illness, where by golly we all pull together and are better because of cancer! Cancer sucks. Cancer kills. And stress is hard and difficulty and can bring out the ugly.”